Page 39 of To Believe In You
She tapped her fingers on her desk, the light catching on the yellow citrine in today’s ring. Grandma would’ve supported this too. And anyway, hadn’t she done this for herself, not for everyone else? She hated longing for approval almost as much as she hated setting boundaries.
11
Agasp sounded so near to thetinkthat Lina lost track of which came first. Either way, she didn’t even have to look to Bailey’s small fingers to understand the girl had dropped Lina’s ring.
Lina rolled her chair back from her desk and scanned the hardwood floor of Key of Hope, looking for the tourmaline-and-diamond ring. She’d chosen the pale green gemstone because her black shirt would’ve gone with any of those she’d inherited. Though not the most valuable, the tourmaline was her favorite.
She’d slipped it from her finger to put on lotion and had placed the heirloom in the little dish she kept on her desk for that purpose. Bailey, who was in the waiting room with her babysitter until her mom finished her last lesson, had spotted it and asked to look.
Only now that it had rolled out of sight did Lina realize wearing the rings every day may have numbed her to their value, both sentimental and monetary. Aside from her house, several of the rings ranked among her most valuable possessions. Combined, the collection was worth more than her home.
Too much to entrust to a little girl, even sweet Bailey.
“Do you see it?” In case the ring had rolled, Lina scanned the floor on her side of the desk.
Bailey dropped from view, and a soft smack signaled two hands bracing on the hardwood. “I’m not sure.”
Lina, too, got on her hands and knees and angled her head to see under the stack of drawers on the left side of her desk.
In the dim recess of the space, that little mound could be—
A buzz on her desk made her jump, bumping her head on a drawer pull.
In the two weeks since she’d asked Shane to stop contacting her, telemarketers and a few friends had called and texted. Yet, every time, her heart had thundered as if it were Shane. Eventually, her jumpy reactions would subside. Hopefully.
She’d had to throw out some spent stems from the orchid bouquet, but overall, she’d been impressed at the arrangement’s longevity. The same could be said of Shane’s compliance.
Maybe there was something to this idea of setting boundaries.
“Is that it?” Bailey sounded as though she had her cheek pressed to the floor.
Lina didn’t have to reach any conclusions about Shane now. Most likely, the caller was spam, and voicemail could handle that. She slid open her desk drawer, withdrew a ruler, and took another look under the desk. “I think so.” She tried to use the ruler to slide the ring toward herself, but she misjudged the distance and ended up pushing it closer to Bailey.
Small fingers plucked the piece from sight.
“Hello?” The clipped, male voice sounded like Matt.
When had he—?
Wait. Her phone’s ringing had stopped.
Lina scrambled to her feet.
Matt stood on the opposite side of her desk next to Bailey. He had Lina’s phone to his ear, and he watched her closely, as if to telepathically relate what he heard.
Whatever it was, it didn’t draw a smile. “Who’sthis?” His inflection implied he was repeating the caller’s question back.
Her theory about the identity of the caller wavered. What were the odds that the one time she’d let her phone ring in Matt’s presence it would be—
“Okay, Shane. My understanding is she asked you to stop calling.”
A pause.
Lina’s heart pounded as she awaited the outcome. She’d told Matt she didn’t want him to do this for her. Offense at his decision to disregard her objection tangled with her gratitude that he’d kept her from needing to have direct contact with Shane herself.
“She knows how to reach you. Ball’s in her court. Got it?”
Lina swayed forward to take the phone but instead braced her hand on the desktop. She’d determined not to talk to Shane. The fact that he’d called meant he hadn’t changed as much as he’d wanted her to believe, and Matt wasn’t being terrible to him.
